


Poet.

by Quecksilver_Eyes



Category: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Poetry, in which a poet and a crown princess have a conversation about destiny, in which the crown princess bares her teeth and clutches her culture and her people to her chest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23382889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quecksilver_Eyes/pseuds/Quecksilver_Eyes
Summary: Once, a poet told me that I was born of tragedy and destruction.
Relationships: Kidagakash Nedakh & Kashekim Nedakh, Kidagakash Nedakh & Queen of Atlantis
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	Poet.

Once, a poet told me  
that I was born  
of tragedy  
and destruction

That my beauty  
my skill  
comes from my mother’s blood  
dripping from my mouth

That my reign  
our survival  
comes from my father’s grief  
clinging to me

Once, I spat at the poet.

My mother died  
and had no choice  
my father died  
amidst that what killed him  
uselessly

Tell me, poet,  
am I not my own person?  
Tell me, poet,  
that I had to be forged in these depths  
under all this pressure  
Tell me this had to happen

Poet, all this blood on my lips  
Poet, all this grief woven into me  
Poet, all this culture that was lost

Once, I held a knife to the poet’s throat  
and bared my teeth  
and my life

Poet, all that was lost  
only to be excavated by a skinny scholar  
only to be pawed at and sold  
only to be stolen

Poet, was I made for this?  
To be me and all my family  
and all my people  
in a box, unmoving  
behind glass to be gawked at?

Poet, is this what my mother died for?  
Poet, is this what I was born for?

_For the world to be born, another must fall.  
This isn’t your destruction, your highness.  
You are building the world anew,  
you are what was needed  
to bring about a new age.  
That is what your mother died for.  
That is what you were born for.  
The crystal is your destiny._

Once, my teeth were dripping red  
with poetry.


End file.
